Josesito Lopez shook up the boxing world this past June when he broke the jaw of heavily favored Victor Ortiz and stopped him after nine rounds of their welterweight fight at Staples Center. Saturday, Lopez will again be expected to lose when he challenges Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for his super welterweight title in the main event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime).

Lopez embraces this role.

“I love the position really,” said Lopez, of Riverside. “I mean, the more people don’t believe in me, probably the better for me. I think that makes victory that much sweeter, motivation that much bigger. I think that’s really what pushes me and the few believers that I have, I think, are a motivation to me to get bigger and stronger.”

Ortiz was thought to be too big and too strong for Lopez, who moved up from junior welterweight (140 pounds) to stun Ortiz at welterweight (147). The same is now being said about this fight, where Lopez is now toiling in the 154-pound weight class.

Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) seems undaunted.

“You know, naturally he’s going to be a bigger fighter,” Lopez said of Mexico’s Alvarez. “He’s going to be a heavier fighter, he’s going to look a lot bigger. So we trained hard.

“We worked hard. We had big sparring partners in our training camp to get used to that heavier weight. I feel that I’m stronger than ever and I’m prepared to prove it.”

The thing is after what Lopez did to Ortiz, he doesn’t really have to prove anything. Even Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter sings Lopez’s praises.

“Josesito Lopez is one person that we all could admire, a fighter who we should all respect,” said De La Hoya, who also promotes Ortiz. “He truly is the American dream. He truly is a fighter who a lot of people – I have to admit, including myself – didn’t believe he could beat Victor Ortiz and he did it in spectacular fashion.

“And that’s why he’s here now, because he feels and he thinks that he can do it once again in spectacular fashion.”

Lopez’s stock has risen dramatically. Although he was known as a solid fighter before fighting Ortiz, he wasn’t exactly on the minds of everyone in the sport. He was actually a replacement for Andre Berto, who was supposed to fight Ortiz before he tested positive for a banned substance.

But Lopez gained serious recognition after beating Ortiz. Doing the same to Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) would push his popularity sky high, and he knows it.

“I would like to believe that by beating Canelo I would be in the best position in my career,” said Lopez, 28, who will be in his first major title fight. “I’ve worked very hard to be in the position I am in now, but, you know, obviously the main focus for me is to be able to beat him and to open doors in my career and let the public decide what my status is in boxing.”

De La Hoya said Monday that more than 12,000 tickets have been sold.

Meanwhile, down the street

There are, of course, two major cards Saturday in Las Vegas. Top Rank Inc. on Tuesday announced the Thomas & Mack Center sold out for the middleweight title fight between champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez (on HBO pay-per-view).

The fight will become the highest-attended boxing match ever at the arena with 19,186 tickets sold, surpassing the previous record of 19,151 set in the second fight between heavyweights Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis on Nov. 13, 1999.

Hatton may return to ring

Former light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton is set to come out of retirement after three years, having called a news conference to make a “major announcement” on Friday. The 33-year-old Briton has not fought since a second-round knockout by Manny Pacquiao in 2009.

Hatton has previously described how he slipped into depression and considered suicide while trying to come to grips with the loss.

Hatton established his own promotions company, but it ran into problems in May when he lost his television deal with British broadcaster BSkyB. Now Hatton is being prepped to eventually fight Paulie Malignaggi if the comeback succeeds. Hatton beat Malignaggi in 2008.